Meet the Florida woman who went viral for her ‘Sexy Gritty’ Halloween costume

Amy Beamer couldn’t decide who she wanted to dress up as for Halloween this year.

The Tampa, Fla., resident was out shopping for a wedding guest dress when she had her epiphany. Before her was an “ugly two-piece orange fur set.” That’s when it hit her — why not be Gritty?

Beamer, 27, is a longtime Tampa Bay Lightning fan and grew up in Pensacola watching minor league hockey. As a kid, she’d attend Ice Flyers games (owned by former Flyer Tim Kerr). Even as a non-Philadelphian, she says she understands Gritty-lore.

“A ton of my friends are from Philly, [and] they love Gritty,” she said. “I’m also a big fan of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and they had a Gritty cameo. I feel like Gritty is a whole vibe now.”

She spent about $40 on her sexy Gritty costume, using the two-piece set she spotted on Fashion Nova, a Gritty mask hat, and orange socks from her personal collection.

She said the idea started out as a joke, but after it went viral on TikTok, she had to commit.

For years, sexy [insert character] parody costumes have been a popular option for Halloween. According to Know Your Meme, the formula of sexifying a popular character began taking off in the early 2000s.

In 2006, CollegeHumor released a parody commercial for a fake “Girl’s Costume Wearhouse” which featured women modeling “sexy” costumes. It’s since been viewed millions of times.

Beamer’s TikTok post about her costume idea has earned more than 92,000 views on the video platform and more than 14,000 likes. Gritty has also commented on the video, requesting her to “drop the results.”

Her idea also sparked a meme, which has been viewed on X (formerly Twitter) more than 35,000 times.

“I was shocked at how many people loved the idea,” Beamer said. “I had a friend who decided to be sexy Gritty too ... it was a little wild how quickly it blew up.”

ThunderBug, the Lightning’s mascot, could never.